


Codex: The Faces of Inquisitor Lavellan

by OceanTheSoulRebel



Series: Knight's Favor [3]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Character Lore, Codex - Freeform, Codex Entry, Elves Save the World timeline, F/M, Original Male Character - Freeform, Post-Game, Post-Trespasser, Worldbuilding, academic narrator, academic-style writing, excerpt from textbook style writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 03:25:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17859353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OceanTheSoulRebel/pseuds/OceanTheSoulRebel
Summary: An excerpt from“Restitutions: Restoring Elvhen Figures in History,”by Therion Surana, published in 9:78 Dragon.





	Codex: The Faces of Inquisitor Lavellan

**Author's Note:**

> Developmental character and world lore for the Knight's Favor timeline/verse, as told by a scholar OC, Therion Surana.

 

 

There are multiple renditions of Inquisitor Lavellan’s likeness in memory of her work. A selection of official court paintings exist among the royal houses of Thedas. A small number of portraits are said to dwell among the Lucerni faction of the Tevinter Imperium’s Magisterium. Both Orlais and Ferelden host court-commissioned royal sculptures of Lavellan, and a lesser-known rendition of her likeness stands at Skyhold Fortress in the Frostback Mountains.

### “Lavellan Sejeant”

Commissioned by Emperor Gaspard de Chalons in 9:44, ”Lavellan Sejeant” is wrought from the finest Nevarran marble and gold, inlaid with onyx along the lines of her facial tattoos. This statue is installed in the palace gardens at Val Royeaux, kneeling between the roots of an oak tree. Lavellan wears the Inquisition’s uniform to the infamous Peace Talks of 9:41 Dragon at Halamshiral in Orlais. Her visage is set in serenity as if to match the location of its installment, and her hands lay palm-up on her knees, gentle and soft. The artist rendered upon her brow what has been dubbed the Crown of the Inquisition, undoubtedly influenced by Chantry art of Andraste. The statue itself is said to have an air of calm to it as if enchanted with an aura of reverent awe, though these perceptions may be influenced by the vibrant garden wherein the sculpture once held residence.

Unfortunately, “Lavellan Sejeant” has been purposefully vandalized multiple times. The figure has been wrested from its foundation and her face chipped to destroy the lines of her vallaslin, Dalish facial tattoos. The statue has since been somewhat restored and repaired, but her ears and left hand have not since been recovered; according to documentation on the history of the statue, these were chosen not to be re-carved and attached to the existing figure, “to preserve its artistic integrity,” at the behest of its sculptor. It is unknown whether the perpetrator or perpetrators have been identified.

### “Thedas’ Hope”

The second sculpture is found in the public gardens at Ferelden’s Denerim palace. Sculpted in 9:60, this piece commemorates the defeat of the Dread Wolf, the Elvhen god Fen’Harel, after the years-long conflict known as the War of the Evanuris. The Inquisitor’s likeness had been wrought of Rivaini marble and dressed in her recognizable suit of armor, her sword at her side. Her face is tipped toward the heavens, left hand outstretched and her right held to her chest. Its installation site is said to be specifically chosen so that she would ever be bathed in light. “Thedas’ Hope,” as the piece is called, remains a popular destination for those who had been personally affected by the Inquisitor’s actions during the Inquisition’s tenure and the war.

This sculpture had been party to a scandal that rocked Ferelden for over a year. “Thedas’ Hope” had been commissioned by the late King Alistair Theirin and later installed by his daughter as a partner to another new statue honoring Warden Surana, the Hero of Ferelden—named “Spirit of Ferelden,” in reference to Surana’s specialization as a spirit-healer. The reveal and installation of these two pieces culminated in an official announcement from the Denerim palace: the young Queen Elaina Theirin, heir to her father’s throne after his abdication in order to fulfill his Warden’s duty, revealed their status as being elf-blooded. The claim was supported by newly found documents written in King Maric Theirin’s own hand and a formal acknowledgement by King Alistair.

Ferelden only narrowly avoided another civil war as the noble houses declared themselves for or against the throne in light of this revelation, paired with other issues of unrest from the late years of King Alistair’s reign. Both sculptures have been damaged in a number of periodic episodes of vandalism, but the Crown has been thorough in repairing and restoring these statues.

### “Pride of the Dalish”

Following Inquisitor Lavellan’s death in 9:74, a new sculpture was said to be erected at Skyhold. I made a journey to the site in 9:75 to see for myself and to record it for posterity.

Inquisitor Lavellan stands at nearly eight feet tall. She is depicted as an elven woman of her mid-thirties to early-forties, sword and shield in hand. Lavellan is made entirely of ironbark and stands ready in a warrior’s stance dressed in full armor at the gate of Skyhold Fortress. She wears no helm; this only accentuates the obvious shape of her ears and the lines of vallaslin, the Dalish tattoos that curl over her face. Her visage is contorted in a grimace of determination, teeth bared in challenge and rallying cry both.

At her side stands her partner, the notorious Thom Rainier, also without a helmet. There is no diminished quality to this sculpture, as one might expect. He, too, is wrought in ironbark; it is a curious honor for a human, likely in deference to his relationship to Lavellan and to the Dalish people. Rainier is also carved as if ready for battle, with sword drawn and shield raised to protect Lavellan’s exposed flank, and, like Lavellan, is a larger-than-life figure at an imposing nine feet tall.

And perhaps they truly are ready to defend their people. When I approached the closed gates of Skyhold, I was met with a carefully clustered volley of arrows that studded the earth before me. It was only after I introduced myself—an elven scholar who had met the Inquisitor by chance in Kirkwall, and brother to the Hero of Ferelden—that the owners of said arrows revealed themselves. After a tense introduction, I was welcomed into Skyhold and was granted the opportunity to record its most recent history leading to the creation of these statues, as told by the Keeper of Skyhold, governor of the fortress and its inhabitants.

At some point in Lavellan’s descent into relative reclusion after the disbandment of the Inquisition, the fortress had been abandoned. In 9:53 Dragon, during the War of the Evanuris, a number of Dalish and other elves from all walks of life congregated in Skyhold’s halls with Lavellan herself. They reclaimed the fortress and built it into a small town once more, supported by and protecting the nearby villages. It once more became a seat of her power against another would-be god, and is said to have been as active and bustling a place as during the time of the Inquisition.

In gratitude for the acts of the elvhen faction that fought under Lavellan's banner during the war, King Alistair awarded the arling of Redcliffe and its surrounding bannorn to Lavellan in 9:58 following the death of Arl Teagan Guerrin, after it was certified that he had no surviving children. This decision was hotly contested, with dissent ultimately assuaged until it was once again a point of contention between the nearly-warring factions among the Landsmeet following Queen Elaina’s revelation. Lavellan and Rainier spent their remaining years between Redcliffe and Kirkwall, though Lavellan was known to attend to her duties as a Dalish citizen for weeks to months at a time. It is unknown, perhaps with great reason, where these two figures are buried, though it is recorded that they perished within days of each other and left the rule of the arling to their adopted children.

Elara Lavellan and her life-partner stand eternally ready, weapons in hand to protect the ancient fortress once more. The quality of the artwork is so fine that one could imagine a skilled mage could easily breathe life into the figures and return to Thedas such noteworthy figures. When asked, the Keeper of Skyhold revealed that there is no one artist credited to having created this pair; instead, it is described as a group effort, championed by Dalish and city-elf alike, with materials coming from clans and families from all over Thedas. It seems that, despite Fen’Harel’s designs to restore the ancient Elvhen, it was Elara Lavellan that brought the elves together in any significant measure for the first time since the fall of the Dales.

At their feet stands a simple plaque, clearly denoting both Lavellan and Rainier: “Pride of the Dalish,” it says, paired with a secondary title, “Never Again Shall We Submit.”

 

— From _“Restitutions: Restoring Elvhen Figures in History,”_ by Therion Surana, 9:78 Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> Come find me on tumblr at [ocean-in-my-rebel-soul!](https://ocean-in-my-rebel-soul.tumblr.com)
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> Comments and concrit always appreciated! Thank you for reading!


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